Travel, video games top poll on summer fun

Staff writer, with CNA

Wed, Jun 19, 2013 - Page 3

Family vacations, video games and anime top the list of favorite summer activities for Taiwanese elementary and junior-high school students, a study showed last week.

According to the survey conducted by the Chinese-language Mandarin Daily News, 76 percent of elementary students want to travel with their family this summer. Among junior-high students, 62 percent rank video games and anime above family vacations.

The survey asked the students how they wish to spend time this summer, and asked their parents and teachers how they hope the students spend their time. The survey results are based on 2,638 respondents.

The top three activities that elementary-school students want to do this summer are: travel with family, help protect the global environment and read good books.

Their preferences are similar to their parents’ and teachers’ wishes for them, which include traveling with family, reading a good book and learning a new sport.

Junior-high students said they want to play video games and watch anime the most, followed by helping with environmental protection and traveling with the family.

However, their parents and teachers have different ideas for summer activities, preferring the students to take family vacations, read and experience country life.

Writer and parenting expert Yang Li-jung (楊俐容) said that children at elementary-school level typically comply more with their parents’ expectations. This starts to change when they enter junior high, Yang said.

Junior-high students like to relax during school breaks or take on part-time jobs, but their parents and teachers often want them to spend more time reading and learning.

“Parents and teachers don’t seem to recognize that kids have entered puberty and they change as a result,” she said. “The different choices can easily cause arguments and conflict.”

Yang suggests parents learn to listen and communicate with their teens, avoid limiting their choices and support their decisions.